Sometimes I think the Raiders like to tease their fans when they win games they’re not expected to even compete in. But once again the Raiders beat a potential playoff team when they held on to beat the Bengals 20-17 yesterday. I don’t know how they won… but the one thing I do know is that the team has seemed to play better ever since they benched their starting quarterback JaMarcus Russel. Both of my favorite shots of the day came from the same player, Raiders tight end Zach Miller. The first came just after he caught a touchdown pass in the second quarter (… the catch itself was very boring in photographic standards)… so I’m glad he decided to stand up and spike the ball since players are usually encouraged not to show any emotion in the NFL (… that’s another topic though). The second shot of Miller I liked came when he was unable to make a leaping grab for a ball in the fourth quarter. Overall it was an average game for me, and I think I’m really just more surprised that I saw the Raiders beat a good team for the second time this year.
Stanford football missed out on an opportunity to go to the Rose Bowl this year. The team controlled their own destiny and needed a win over rival Cal-Berkeley to almost guarantee a trip to the Rose Bowl in January. I thought, like most people, that CAL didn’t have much of a chance in this game, especially without their star running back. But they persevered and wound up defeating Stanford 34-28. My favorite shot of the night came after the game was over when I found four Stanford fans dejectedly remaining in their seats after the close of the game. They looked so sad that I don’t even know if they cared, or knew, that I was taking their picture. I have to admit it was a little funny and sad and the same time.
Due to a busy schedule… I’ve been unable to cover any Fresno State football games this year. I was especially disappointed when I didn’t get to shoot the Fresno State vs. Boise State game this year due to a conflicting assignment, … but I decided to catch a ride with some friends to the game in Reno this past weekend. Although I had fun with my friends, the game was a nightmare. Everything was looking good in the first quarter when the Bulldogs put up 14 points to start the game, … but the bad news is that would be all the points the Bulldogs would put on board for the entire afternoon. To make matters worse, one of the main reasons I took the trip to Reno was to take stock photos of Bulldogs running back Ryan Mathews who is the nation’s leading rusher, and he left the game in the second quarter with an injury! When he was carted off the field I think that may have hurt the Bulldogs mentally more than anything else. After Reno finished putting up 52 points against the Bulldogs it was definitely time to release our frustrations in the town… but I would’ve had much more fun if we could’ve celebrated a victory instead.
The Chicago Bears came into town to take on the 49ers last night and wow… and don’t think I’ve ever seen a quarterback throw so many interceptions in one game before… at least not in person anyways. Bears quarterback Jay Cutler threw five interceptions in the game and the Bears could not overcome all of the turnovers in a loss to the 49ers. What’s almost more surprising than that statistic is that the 49ers only won by four points and the Bears had a chance to win near the end of the game! It was one of those “strange” games where even though it was a low scoring affair, it was still exciting because it was a primetime game and you knew any team could win with one score. After the game I found out my shot made the front page of the Chicago Tribune sports section… I thought that was pretty cool especially considering the fact that Chicago had flown out their own shooters to cover the game. Can’t wait to shoot the 49ers again when they play on Monday night in about a month.
I was excited to shoot my first regular season game of the year for the Kings when Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder came to town. Durant was an interesting player to watch. He started off with a dunk in the opening seconds and I thought I was going to get plenty of photos of him at that point. But he took it slow in the first half… almost as if he was “feeling” out the defense before he really decided to turn it up a notch. When I used to play basketball more I’d run into a few players who took this approach and seemed to survey the field and figure out their defenders a little better before they put out all of their energy. Unfortunately for me, I was hoping this wasn’t the case since as photographers we’re assigned to shoot on one side of the court all night. But as it turned out… this is exactly what Durant did. He started scoring almost at will in the second half as I had to watch him from the other side of the court. In the end, he had a chance to tie the game with a three-pointer but he just missed and the Kings escaped with a 101-98 win.
